Group rallies behind Speaker

By BEAUTTAH OMANGA

The civil society says Speaker Kenneth Marende's ruling on presidential nominees is constitutional and appropriate.

Led by the president of the National Civil Society Congress, Morris Odhiambo, the groups said Marende’s ruling had once again reaffirmed the confidence of the Kenyan people in the institution that he heads.

"We call upon the Speaker to continue to make such bold rulings in the face of a dysfunctional Executive to provide the lacking leadership. Mr Speaker you have upheld the sovereignty of the Kenyan people," he said at a news conference in Nairobi, yesterday.

The officials said they were appalled by President Kibaki’s reaction to the ruling, arguing the move was geared at undermining the Speaker’s office.

Intimidate holder

Mr Odhiambo said Kibaki’s rejection of the ruling amounted to attempts to intimidate the holder of the office of Speaker and have him yield to the personal interests of a minority that treats the State as private enterprise.

"Both the President and the PM must bear in mind that the work of the Speaker is not to arbitrate the conflicts within the Executive," read a statement signed by the activists.

The civil society groups also noted that those shouting the loudest against the ruling were bound together by a deep sense of fear of the impending action by the International Criminal Court.

"We would like to remind all those people that the implementation of the Constitution is not aimed at shielding them from justice, neither is it meant to put in place compliant institutions that would result in aborted justice," said Odhiambo.

He said the pending indictments were not a concern of Kenyans, but was so to individual suspects.

The lobbyists dismissed the stand by Kibaki as a panic reaction alongside those who shared his thinking. They advised the President to take into serious consideration legal views expressed by the High Court, the Attorney General and the Constitution Implementation Commission.